not good..security test failed by nuclear unit

[sky otter]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20130813/us-nuclear-missteps/?utm_hp_ref=homepage&ir=homepage

Air Force nuclear unit fails key security test

ROBERT BURNS | August 13, 2013 04:28 PM EST | Associated Press


WASHINGTON — An Air Force unit that operates one-third of the nation's land-based nuclear missiles has failed a safety and security inspection, marking the second major setback this year for a force charged with the military's most sensitive mission, the general in charge of the nuclear air force told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

Lt. Gen. James M. Kowalski, commander of Air Force Global Strike Command, said a team of "relatively low ranking" airmen failed one exercise as part of a broader inspection, which began last week and ended Tuesday. He said that for security reasons he could not be specific about the team or the exercise.

"This unit fumbled on this exercise," Kowalski said by telephone from his headquarters at Barksdale Air Force Base, La., adding that this did not call into question the safety or control of nuclear weapons at Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana.

"The team did not demonstrate the right procedures," he said, and as a result was rated a failure.

To elaborate "could reveal a potential vulnerability" in the force, Kowalski said.

In a written statement on its website, Kowalski's command said there had been "tactical-level errors" in the snap exercise, revealing "discrepancies."

Without more details it is difficult to reliably judge the extent and severity of the problem uncovered at Malmstrom, home of the 341st Missile Wing, which is one of three nuclear missile wings. Each wing operates 150 Minuteman 3 intercontinental ballistic missiles, or ICBMs, on alert for potential launch against targets around the globe.

Asked whether the Air Force intends to take disciplinary action against anyone for the inspection failure, Kowalski said the Air Force is "looking into it." Overall, the 341st wing "did well," he said, earning ratings of excellent or outstanding in the majority of the 13 areas in which it was graded by inspectors. Those areas include management, administration, safety, security, emergency exercises, worker reliability and other facets of a mission that relies on teams of officers and enlisted personnel.

ICBM wings undergo two types of inspections. The one at Malmstrom was a "surety" inspection, which the Pentagon defines as "nuclear weapon system safety, security and control." The point is to ensure that no nuclear weapon is accidentally, inadvertently or deliberately armed or launched without presidential authority.

Kowalski said his command's inspector general has conducted 14 such inspections since early 2010 with just two failures – both involving the 341st wing. The first was in February 2010. The second was this week.

The 341st also failed a safety and security inspection in 2008.

A different type of inspection of the 91st Missile Wing at Minot Air Force Base, N.D., in March of this year led the deputy commander of the wing's operations group to complain of "rot" in the force. Technically, the wing passed that inspection but its missile crews earned the equivalent of a "D" grade when tested on their mastery of Minuteman 3 launch operations using a simulator. The following month the 91st temporarily removed 17 officers from launch control duty – the first time such a large number had been pulled from duty.

In June, the commander in charge of training and proficiency of missile crews at Minot, Lt. Col. Randy Olson, was relieved of duty, citing a "loss of confidence" in his leadership.

Launch operations were not part of the Malmstrom inspection failure, Kowalski said.

The trouble at Minot was the latest in a longer series of setbacks for the Air Force's nuclear mission, highlighted by a 2008 Pentagon advisory group report that found a "dramatic and unacceptable decline" in the Air Force's commitment to the mission, which has its origins in a Cold War standoff with the former Soviet Union.

Following a series of nuclear embarrassments in 2008 – including the inadvertent transport of six nuclear-tipped missiles on a B-52 bomber, whose pilot did not know they were aboard when he flew from Minot to Barksdale Air Force Base, La. – then-Defense Secretary Robert Gates fired the top two Air Force officials.

Kowalski's command was created in late 2009 as part of an effort to fix what was broken in the nuclear force. In Tuesday's interview he said he is encouraged that inspections after 2009 began finding an increasing number of problems at the ICBM wings, followed by a decrease since 2011. He said this tells him that the Air Force has come up with more rigorous, effective means of inspecting, and that they are spurring change.

"This is a difficult inspection," he said, so occasional failures do not point to a systemic failure to adhere to safety and security regulations.

___

Follow Robert Burns at Twitter at http://twitter.com/robertburnsAP


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http://www.greatfallstribune.com/viewart/20130813/NEWS01/308130011/Malmstrom-wing-fails-nuclear-inspection?odyssey=mod%7Cbreaking%7Ctext%7CFrontpage



http://www.krtv.com/news/malmstrom-rated-unsatisfactory-in-nuclear-inspection/



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http://missoulian.com/news/local/malmstrom-nuclear-unit-fails-nd-key-security-test/article_ba101fd4-0449-11e3-9623-0019bb2963f4.html

The 341st also failed a safety and security inspection in 2008.

A different type of inspection of the 91st Missile Wing at Minot Air Force Base, N.D., in March of this year led the deputy commander of the wing's operations group to complain of "rot" in the force. Technically, the wing passed that inspection but its missile crews earned the equivalent of a "D'' grade when tested on their mastery of Minuteman 3 launch operations using a simulator. The following month the 91st temporarily removed 17 officers from launch control duty — the first time such a large number had been pulled from duty.

In June, the commander in charge of training and proficiency of missile crews at Minot, Lt. Col. Randy Olson, was relieved of duty, citing a "loss of confidence" in his leadership.

Launch operations were not part of the Malmstrom inspection failure, Kowalski said.

The trouble at Minot was the latest in a longer series of setbacks for the Air Force's nuclear mission, highlighted by a 2008 Pentagon advisory group report that found a "dramatic and unacceptable decline" in the Air Force's commitment to the mission, which has its origins in a Cold War standoff with the former Soviet Union.

...

"This is a difficult inspection," he said, so occasional failures do not point to a systemic failure to adhere to safety and security regulations



......................................................

might this be the reason for failure..?

http://missoulian.com/news/state-and-regional/malmstrom-air-force-base-to-furlough-civilian-workers/article_305ec4f2-cab5-11e2-b0c1-001a4bcf887a.html

Malmstrom Air Force Base to furlough 525 civilian workers

The Associated Press
June 01, 2013 8:30 am  •  Associated PressGREAT FALLS —
Malmstrom Air Force Base officials are handing out notices of furloughs to its civilian employees.

[sky otter]

and it gets worse...




http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2014/01/15/22317264-34-nuclear-missile-officers-cheated-on-tests-air-force-says?lite=


34 nuclear missile officers cheated on tests, Air Force says



By Jim Miklaszewski and Courntey Kube, NBC News

The military has stripped the certification and security clearances of 34 officers at a Montana missile base after uncovering what it believes is the largest cheating scandal ever to hit the nuclear force, Air Force officials told NBC News Wednesday.

The officers, all assigned to the 341st Missile Wing at Malmstrom Air Force Base, are accused of apparently texting answers to each other on a monthly proficiency exam or knew that the cheating was going on and didn't report it, the officials said.

The monthly exam tested the officers' knowledge of the missile launch systems. It was administered in August and September 2013.

Air Force Chief of Staff General Mark Welsh said the officers shared the exam "electronically." Text messages were involved, he said. He would not expand on the exact circumstances of the alleged cheating, citing an ongoing investigation.

Every missilier (officers trained in launch procedures) in the Intercontinental Ballistic Missile Community will be re-tested by the close of business tomorrow, the new Air Force Secretary, Deborah Lee James, said on Wednesday.

James said that she is "profoundly disappointed" in this behavior, but she insisted that this is a failure of integrity, not of the overall nuclear mission.

Welsh said that there is no indication that the cheating scandal extended beyond these 34 officers, or beyond the one test last summer.

He said he does not know of any other time when so many officers have been de-certified from the ICBM mission at once.

There are about 190 missiliers at Malmstrom, one of three U.S. Air Force bases responsible for the ICBM program.

Welsh also revealed that the investigation into drug use by 10 Air Force officers has now expanded to include one more officer. Several of those 11 officers were ICBM missile launch officers at FE Warren in Wyoming and Malmstrom.

All of those involved in the cheating scandal and the drug use are lower-ranking officers — 2nd lieutenants through captains.

Jeff Black of NBC News contributed to this report.

[sky otter]

and then even worser...




http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2014/01/28/22483405-more-nuclear-missile-officers-accused-in-cheating-probe?lite=&lite=obinsite

8 hours ago

More nuclear missile officers accused in cheating probe

By Jim Miklaszewski and Courntey Kube, NBC News
The number of nuclear missile launch officers under investigation for allegations of cheating has nearly doubled, a U.S. military official said Tuesday.

On Jan. 15, the Air Force announced that 34 nuclear officers were under investigation http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2014/01/15/22317264-34-nuclear-missile-officers-cheated-on-tests-air-force-says?lite

for either cheating on tests or knowing about the cheating ring and not reporting it.

As the investigation continued, investigators identified more individuals who were involved in or knew about the cheating, nearly doubling the number from the original 34 — although officials wouldn't give an exact number.

"The number of officers under investigation has increased," the official said, but declined to give the exact number now under investigation. The official also could not say how many officers have been suspended from duty, saying only, "It is safe to assume that if they are under investigation, they are not pulling duty."

The official, who spoke to NBC News on condition of anonymity, stressed that there has been no change in the overall nuclear mission and no degradation of the U.S. nuclear capability.

The original officers in the probe, all assigned to the 341st Missile Wing at Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana, are accused of apparently texting answers to each other on a monthly proficiency exam, or knew that the cheating was going on and didn't report it, according to officials.

The monthly exam tested the officers' knowledge of the missile launch systems. It was administered in August and September 2013.

Air Force Chief of Staff General Mark Welsh said earlier this month the officers shared the exam "electronically." Text messages were involved, he said. He would not expand on the exact circumstances of the alleged cheating, citing an ongoing investigation.

At the time, Welsh said that there was no indication the cheating scandal extended beyond the 34 officers.

There are about 190 missiliers at Malmstrom, one of three U.S. Air Force bases responsible for the ICBM program.

Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James, the service's top civilian official, has said that the alleged cheating at Malmstrom was discovered during a previously announced probe of drug possession by 11 officers at several bases. Initially, that probe only included 10 officers.
http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2014/01/10/22258291-air-force-drug-probe-grows-to-include-10-officers?lite

The 341st Missile Wing provides security for 150 nuclear-armed Minuteman 3 intercontinental ballistic missiles, one third of the entire ICBM force, according to the Associated Press.

NBC News' Elizabeth Chuck contributed to this report.

[sky otter]

i guess we should be more afeared of our own stupids than of enemy fire.. ..sigh




http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2014/01/30/22508088-92-nuclear-missile-officers-implicated-in-cheating-scandal-air-force-says?lite&ocid=msnhp&pos=1

92 nuclear missile officers implicated in cheating scandal, Air Force says

By Jim Miklaszewski, Courtney Kube and Elizabeth Chuck, NBC News
The number of nuclear missile launch officers under investigation for allegations of cheating has ballooned to 92, the Air Force said Thursday.

The new total is nearly three times the initial 34 officers who were implicated in the scandal and nearly one-fifth of the force. The officers have been taken off their missile wing duties during the investigation into the cheating, which happened during a key proficiency exam, Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James said at a Pentagon news briefing.

Of the 92, 40 are suspected of actually cheating by obtaining answers in advance of the test; the remaining 52 were allegedly aware of the cheating, but failed to report it to superiors.
"The situation remains completely unacceptable," James told reporters.

Officials have stressed that there has been no change in the overall nuclear mission and no degradation of the U.S. nuclear capability.

"This is a failure of integrity, not a failure of the mission," James said Thursday.

The original officers in the probe, all assigned to the 341st Missile Wing at Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana, are accused of apparently texting answers to each other, or knew that the cheating was going on and didn't report it, according to officials.

The monthly exam tested the officers' knowledge of the missile launch systems. It was administered in August and September 2013.

Air Force Chief of Staff General Mark Welsh said earlier this month the officers shared the exam "electronically." Text messages were involved, he said. He would not expand on the exact circumstances of the alleged cheating, citing an ongoing investigation.

The investigation into the cheating ring was announced on Jan. 15 by the Air Force.

The 341st Missile Wing provides security for 150 nuclear-armed Minuteman 3 intercontinental ballistic missiles, one third of the entire ICBM force. James said there is no evidence of similar cheating at the other two nuclear missile bases, F.E. Warren in Wyoming and Minot in North Dakota.

Just two days ago, a U.S. military official told NBC News the number of officers under allegations had nearly doubled.

James, who is the service's top civilian official, said Thursday that the systemic micromanagement in the nuclear force has created "undue stress and fear," and that situation at Malmstrom was "not a healthy environment."

She has said that the alleged cheating at Malmstrom was discovered during a previously announced probe of drug possession by 11 officers at several bases. Initially, that probe only included 10 officers.

[burntheships]

Sky,

This does concern me,
I also wonder if this could have anything to do
with the military shake up from Barry and company?

I need to look into this more.

[sky otter]

bts this world is so screwded up i don't know where youstart to make changes..very sad

http://news.msn.com/in-depth/air-force-brass-culture-of-fear-led-to-cheating

Air Force brass: Culture of fear led to cheating
Half of the 183 launch officers at Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana were decertified as a result of the scandal within the nuclear missile corps.

WASHINGTON — A worrisome culture of fear that made launch officers believe they had to get perfect test scores to be promoted fueled a widening cheating scandal within the military's nuclear missile corps, according to Air Force officials.

Half of the 183 launch officers at Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana have been implicated in the cheating investigation and suspended, signaling deeper morale and personnel problems in a force critical to America's nuclear security.

Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James said the scandal hasn't affected the safety or reliability of the military's nuclear mission. Speaking to Pentagon reporters Thursday, James and Lt. Gen. Stephen Wilson, who heads the Global Strike Command, said that so far it appears the cheating was confined to the Montana base, even while a climate of frustration, low morale and other failures permeates the nuclear force, which numbers about 550.

Related: US Air Force: 92 implicated in cheating scandal

The cheating scandal is the latest in an array of troubles that now have the attention of senior defense officials, including Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel. The Associated Press began reporting on the issue nine months ago and revealed serious security lapses, low morale, burnout and other problems in the nuclear force. The Air Force recently announced the cheating scandal, which grew out of a drug investigation.

"These tests have taken on, in their eyes, such high importance, that they feel that anything less than 100 could well put their entire career in jeopardy" even though they only need a score of 90 to pass, said James, who recently took over as secretary. "They have come to believe that these tests are make-it-or-break-it."

The launch officers didn't cheat to pass the test, "they cheated because they felt driven to get 100 percent," she said.

Of the 92 officers implicated so far, as many as 40 were involved directly in the cheating, Wilson said. Others may have known about it but did not report it.

Separately, James said that an investigation into drug possession by officers at several Air Force bases now involves 13 airmen, two more than initially announced. The drug probe led to the discovery of the cheating problem, when investigators found that launch officers were texting answers to each other.

All 92 officers — nearly 17 percent of the force — have been decertified and taken off the job while the scandal is being investigated. That means other launch officers and staff must fill in, performing 10 24-hour shifts per month, instead of the usual eight, Wilson said. Staff members from the 20th Air Force, which oversees all of the nuclear missile force, are also being tapped to do the shifts.

Top-level search for solutions

The Air Force has 450 intercontinental ballistic missiles, or ICBMs, on alert at all times. Each day, 90 officers work in pairs inside 45 underground launch control centers, with each center monitoring and controlling a group of 10 ICBMs. They work 24-hour shifts in the missile field and then return to their base.

The latest scandal set off a top-level search for solutions, including a round of visits by James to all the nuclear bases, where she met privately with small groups of airmen to get their insights into the problems.

James and Wilson said that the problems underscore the need to develop new testing and training procedures, provide more incentives and rewards for those who perform well, and set up a system that looks at more than test scores when evaluating officers.

Officials have yet to discipline any commanders or officers beyond those who actually took the tests. But the ongoing reviews look at leadership and accountability within the force. That includes a culture of poor integrity that may encourage officers to share test answers as a way of looking out for each other.

"I do believe there are climate issues, and part of that will be assessing commanders — how did this happen?" said James.

Wilson said all missile launch officers have now been retested, and the average score was about 95 percent. He said 22 failed. Additional nuclear testing and crew evaluations are also being done.

Malmstrom Air Force Base is responsible for 150 Minuteman 3 nuclear missiles, or one-third of the entire Minuteman 3 force. The other two bases are F.E. Warren in Wyoming and Minot in North Dakota.

The tests in question are designed to ensure proficiency by launch officers in handling "emergency war orders," which involve the classified processing of orders received through their chain of command to launch a missile. These written tests are in addition to two other types of monthly testing on the missile system and on launch codes.

According to James and Wilson, the monthly tests all cover the same course material, but until now each base developed its own individual questions. As a result of the scandal, Wilson said the tests will now be developed by 20th Air Force.

Related: US nuclear missiles are a force in much distress

[sky otter]

Commanders fired in nuke missile cheating scandal

1 hr ago |By ROBERT BURNS of Associated Press


WASHINGTON (AP) — The Air Force fired nine mid-level nuclear commanders Thursday and will discipline dozens of junior officers at a nuclear missile base in response to an exam-cheating scandal that spanned a far longer period than originally reported.

Air Force officials called the moves unprecedented in the history of the intercontinental ballistic missile force, which has been rocked by a string of security lapses over the past year, including a failed safety and security inspection last summer at Malmstrom Air Force Base, Mont., where the cheating happened.

In a bid to correct root causes of the missile corps' failings — including low morale and weak management — the Air Force also announced a series of new or expanded programs to improve leadership development, to modernize the three ICBM bases and to reinforce "core values" including integrity.

Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James, the service's top civilian official, had promised to hold officers at Malmstrom accountable once the cheating investigation was completed and the scope of the scandal was clear. None of the nine fired commanders was directly involved in the cheating, but each was determined to have failed in his or her leadership responsibilities.

Investigators determined that the cheating, which officials originally said happened in August or September last year, began as early as November 2011 and continued until November 2013, according to a defense official who spoke on condition of anonymity in order to reveal details before James' announcement. It involved unauthorized passing of answers to exams designed to test missile launch officers' proficiency in handling "emergency war orders," which are messages involving the targeting and launching of missiles.

When the cheating was first revealed, Air Force leaders condemned it as violating the most basic Air Force values. They also suggested that it reflected an unhealthy pressure from commanders to achieve perfect test scores. The tests are one part of a training and evaluation system that is supposed to ensure that every one of the more than 500 missile launch officers is fully proficient.

The most senior person touched directly by the cheating scandal was the commander of Malmstrom's 341st Missile Wing, Col. Robert Stanley. He was permitted to resign, according to a defense official. The official described the Air Force actions on condition of anonymity before they were announced.

Nine key commanders below Stanley were fired, including the commanders of the 341st Wing's three missile squadrons, each of which is responsible for 50 Minuteman three nuclear missiles.

Also sacked were the commander and deputy commander of the 341st Operations Group, which oversees all three missile squadrons as well as a helicopter unit and a support squadron responsible for administering monthly proficiency tests to Malmstrom's launch crews and evaluating their performance.

Members of all three missile squadrons were implicated in the cheating, either by providing or receiving test answers or knowing about the cheating and not reporting it.

No generals are being punished. Maj. Gen. Michael Carey, who was fired last October as commander of the 20th Air Force, which is responsible for all three 150-missile wings of the ICBM force, is still on duty as a staff officer at Air Force Space Command but has requested retirement; his request is being reviewed.

Carey was fired after a military investigation determined that he had engaged in inappropriate behavior while leading a U.S. government delegation to a nuclear security exercise in Russia last summer. He was replaced by Maj. Gen. Jack Weinstein.

The cheating at Malmstrom was discovered in early January during the course of an unrelated drug investigation that included two launch officers at Malmstrom and others at several other bases; the drug probe is continuing.

A total of 100 missile launch crew members at Malmstrom were identified as potentially involved in the cheating, but nine were cleared by investigators. Another nine of the 100 are being handled separately by the Air Force Office of Special Investigation; eight of those nine involve possible criminal charges stemming from the alleged mishandling of classified information.

Of the remaining 82 officers, an estimated 30 to 40 are eligible to be retrained and returned to duty on the missile force; the rest face unspecified disciplinary action that could include dismissal from the Air Force, officials said.

After the cheating was announced in January, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel launched a pair of in-depth reviews of the nuclear forces to determine why the ICBM force has suffered so many setbacks over the past year.

Hagel said he his goal was to restore public confidence in the nuclear force.

___

Follow Robert Burns on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/robertburnsAPhttp://news.msn.com/us/commanders-fired-in-nuke-missile-cheating-scandal